Why agathis wood is so hated??

[arwanfarizi11]

I'm still wondering why so many people hate agathis so much, I own a guitar with agathis body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, equipped with EMG 81/85 pups, and so far I don't have problem with the tone whatsoever. Is it just me or do you guys have other opinions??

Tell me what you guys think

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

And just how many guitars of how many various woods have you used that did not have EMGs in them?

It's the new basswood, since basswood is used so often these days.
It's cheap, and like anything else, cheap means it can't be good. It's also soft, so those drunken staggers on stage mean dents and dings in your new guitar. I mean, everyone wants that nice "beat to hell" look on their Number 1 guitar, but preferably after they're famous like Keith Richards, SRV, or those guys. And they want the guitar to actually survive that long, so there's absolutely no way agathis could be that body wood, right? I mean, if it was so great, we'd have seen vintage guitars made with it instead of mahogany, maple, walnut, and shtuff like that.


Seriously, people are now extolling the virtues of pine as a tone wood, so the hate for agathis is invalid.


I remember years ago Chinese tubes were crap, and the best stuff came from Russia, in the form of NOS Cold War Era leftovers and the one factory that still made them. Now, we see people swearing up and down that one Chinese tube is better than another Chinese tube. 70s USA Gibsons were always frowned upon and could be had for under $700 all day long, now people will pay well over a grand for a pancake Les Paul that just a few years ago was a chunk of firewood not worthy of the Gibson name or LP logo, because the "good ones" are in the tens of thousands of dollars price range, and of course, the new ones aren't as good as the old ones. We see this with pedals all the time, where the old MIJ with the 65742F chip that's hard to find and expensive when you do sounds so much better than the new one with the 47821gK chip. Of course the only tonal evidence is "listen to it on this CD by this band vs this newer CD by this other band and completely ignore all the other important tonal factors, because once you start breaking it all down you don't hear a difference between the two". Then you get the "well I've got both, and side by side, I hear a difference, because my old one is worth a lot more money than the new one, and I have to say the old one sounds better to preserve that dollar figure".

It's self-righteous cork-sniffery, basically.

 

[arwanfarizi11]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

I've used some made of mahogany, alder, and also maple body without EMG pups in it. And yeah those are better bodywood than agathis I think

But what do you think about the tone of agathis??

Sent from my XPERIA M2 using Tapatalk

 

[Zarg]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

It's basically the new basswood as said already, I have a basswood guitar and its totally fine with me, I love it. Although if you put EMG's into anything, it pretty much always ends up sounding like EMG's, imo.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

majority of musicians don't give a **** what their guitar is made from as long as it sounds decent. It's only all the internet jockeys that bring this **** to the table.

 

[arwanfarizi11]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

It's basically the new basswood as said already, I have a basswood guitar and its totally fine with me, I love it. Although if you put EMG's into anything, it pretty much always ends up sounding like EMG's, imo.

So basically agathis is basswood right??
I also do love my guitar with agathis body, my old pups were ibanez made ones and for sounded awful to my ears, then after I changed to EMG my heart is set and haven't tried other options since

Yeah my friend also said that all guitars with EMG in them sound the same, but I haven't used many guitars with EMG so I can't say for sure

 

[Zarg]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

So basically agathis is basswood right??
I also do love my guitar with agathis body, my old pups were ibanez made ones and for sounded awful to my ears, then after I changed to EMG my heart is set and haven't tried other options since

Yeah my friend also said that all guitars with EMG in them sound the same, but I haven't used many guitars with EMG so I can't say for sure

basically, in terms of price. the tonal properties of it are more like mahogany, but in a cheaper fashion.

I had EMGs too, but I really dislike actives having tried passive Duncans. There are newer active pickups which try to get closer to a passive in terms of harmonies and dynamics, I just think EMG's sound okay for Metal with a lot of Gain but beyond that it just sounds very sterile and hasn't much character. I prefer passives any day. But that's a subjective thing

 

[arwanfarizi11]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

majority of musicians don't give a **** what their guitar is made from as long as it sounds decent. It's only all the internet jockeys that bring this **** to the table.

I also think so and to me the whole wood thing is only matter of preference and what suits most to your ear

 

[arwanfarizi11]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

basically, in terms of price. the tonal properties of it are more like mahogany, but in a cheaper fashion.

I had EMGs too, but I really dislike actives having tried passive Duncans. There are newer active pickups which try to get closer to a passive in terms of harmonies and dynamics, I just think EMG's sound okay for Metal with a lot of Gain but beyond that it just sounds very sterile and hasn't much character. I prefer passives any day. But that's a subjective thing

Oh, know I've learned something, thanks

By the way, what duncans pups do you have now and how's the character of the tone??

Sent from my XPERIA M2 using Tapatalk

 

[Zarg]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

Oh, know I've learned something, thanks

By the way, what duncans pups do you have now and how's the character of the tone??

Sent from my XPERIA M2 using Tapatalk

I have a SH-12b in the bridge of my jackson dinky, it squeels very nicely, has a lot of treble and cuts really good, exactly what I want for playing in a band and also playing things like power metal. The output is not too hot and rolled off, the pickup sounds very nice clear, bell like to me. It suits my needs very great. For the neck position I might get a Jazz neck, or a 59 which would be pretty similiar to the SH12 since its based on the 59. And in general it has much more dynamics than the actives I tried and sounds just better and more natural to me, the EMG's sound very compressed to me

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

I'd dispute this 'Agathis is the new Basswood' view. Many of the old Yamaha Studio Lords (Les Paul replicas) were built with Agathis bodies before Basswood even appeared as a body wood. That would probably indicate that other builders (at least in Japan) had also used it before the Basswood era began.

I'd also challenge the word 'hate' in regards to Agathis. At worst, many players may not know what Agathis has to offer, but i've never seen anyone claim to despise it. If anything, I've seen many more people with strong dislike for Basswood.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

Whatever lumber is appearing in mass market, mid-to-low price electric guitars and basses is going to get slagged off by those who wish to display their deep knowledge of Guitar Construction Lore. It is intended as a put down of both the budget instruments and those persons who cannot afford anything better.

I am fortunate to own both a Fender AVRI '62 Jazz Bass and a Squier VM series lookalike. They both play very nicely, thank you. The AVRI looks nicer and sounds more refined but I would happily gig or record with either.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

Agathis....it is a form of evergreen tree.
It is one of the oldest kinds too...going back to ages of dinosaurs.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

I have an axe that's agathis...no hate here. I think most people just don't know about it, and it does seem to fall on the lower price point, which is a factor as well. Hard to tell how good the body is when its a 9 piece body in a $200 guitar.

Actually, since just replacing the pups in my Squier it's amazing how many guys can't believe it sounds that well. I bring it to jams where std tuning would be involved and maybe some alternate tunings and I always get the 'oh god a squier' look...till I play it. Funny enough that thing got me a better Angus tone than my SG Standard did! It does happen to be a very well built Squier though so it certainly helps the cause.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

I think its more of an unknown and considered cheap–hence the "hate".

I thought it was more like Mahogany in regards to tone.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

Guilt by association. Lots of super-cheap super-crap guitars made with agathis.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

Agathis....it is a form of evergreen tree.
It is one of the oldest kinds too...going back to ages of dinosaurs.

T-Rex played an agathis Flying V

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

I agree on the cheap guitar comments.

Bob Taylor built a guitar out of a pallet, and from all reports it sounds pretty good.

Actually, since just replacing the pups in my Squier it's amazing how many guys can't believe it sounds that well. I bring it to jams where std tuning would be involved and maybe some alternate tunings and I always get the 'oh god a squier' look...till I play it. Funny enough that thing got me a better Angus tone than my SG Standard did! It does happen to be a very well built Squier though so it certainly helps the cause.

Which Squier/pickups?

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

T-Rex played an agathis Flying V

Was his first riff "Godzilla"?

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Why agathis wood is so hated??

Which Squier/pickups?

Squier Standard Fat Strat. Custom/59 in the bridge and whatever fender single coils I pulled out of my mexi Richie Sambora. Haven't even gotten to upgrading the bridge or anything on it yet, just re-wired. Thing plays like a dream and like I said, no one can believe it sounds that good. I even tracked a lead on my last album with it